


Morganthe's Gamble

by Fi_Vind



Category: Wizard101 (Video Game)
Genre: ALSO! Misgendering/pronouns being ignored, Au where Morganthe isn't entirely evil/maniplated to be?, Au where an adult finally does something reasonable, Clementine is just an anxiety filled mess. She just wants none of this-, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, I just really like the idea of this, I may have missed a thing or two but if I did then oof, If our wizard IS canonally very young then, It's only twice and VERY brief but just heads up in case you really hate that sort of thing, Like seriously why has no one ever questioned this-, Like- they really sending a child out in all these situations looool, Listen KI I like y'all but Imma be taking canon i like and fixing everything else, Me and friend went brrr at this in discord last night lmfao, Merle finally awnsering for his fucking war crimes-, Morganthe has Clementine/The Wizards back tho, Non-binary Wizard, Ooc Morganthe. Most likely., Potential typical canon violence, So sorry if she's ooc, The wizard is too good for the spiral in canon honestly, so!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:34:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29162757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fi_Vind/pseuds/Fi_Vind
Summary: After reclaiming her deck of shadows, Morganthe decides to find out just who the Wizard really is. And comes up with a plan to more easily win this little game.
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Aight so this is not entirely my own idea. I got it from a idea fic that was posted back in 2018. Although from what I see, there probably won't be a second chapter. I shared this idea with friend last night and they pretty much screeched "Momganthe" for a solid second or two so...  
> That also contributed lmao.
> 
> Anyway, hope y'all enjoy.

It was late at night when the wizard entered the Headmaster's office. They were annoyed and upset with themselves for letting Morganthe get away so easily.

They had to do better. Ambrose congratulated them on bringing the missing students back home and saving the prince and yada yada.

Before he could send them out again (they just wanted sleep-) A loud crash coming from the map room meant another danger. The wizard followed Headmaster Ambrose dutifully despite being utterly exhausted. Can't things settle down for one second…?

"Ambrose! Help! It's Morganthe!" Gamma yelped in alarm. 

"Morganthe! What are you doing here?" Ambrose's eyes narrowed at the shadow queen. The wizard stood behind the headmaster, slightly more alert and worried. This was most likely very bad. 

Morganthe ignored Ambrose's question. "Hello Ambrose," she greeted.

"I see you brought the young wizard with you. The very young wizard, I may add." Morganthe said, looking over at the young wizard in question, who looked back at her. Morganthe briefly frowned at how utterly exhausted they looked. Not to mention how terrible their gear looked. Had they not had a chance to recover from Mirror Lake? And Ambrose was going to send them out to another world like _that?!_

How despicable.

"Now that I've reclaimed my deck of shadows, it is high time I put an end to this little game you started between us." Morganthe continued which made Ambrose glare at her. 

"And how do you plan on doing just that, Morganthe? To destroy wizard city? We have plenty of wizards and people who will be able to defend this place!" Ambrose replied, furious. Morganthe simply laughed and tapped her staff on the ground.

In her free hand, a sealed folder appeared. "Why Ambrose, I'm so glad you asked. This, shall be your undoing…" Morganthe smiled as the folder opened itself, letting its contents be revealed to everyone in the room. It was quiet as Ambrose read the papers before his eyes widened.

"No. Impossible. This has to be a trick!" Ambrose shook his head as he blocked the wizard's view of everything. The wizard frowned at this, only growing more worried as they tried to move to see what exactly was going on and to keep an eye on Morganthe before Ambrose muttered something to them. They frowned, shoulders slumping but turned away.

"Oh trust me Ambrose. This isn't a trick." Morganthe said, "You see, after the events of Mirror Lake, I decided to do a bit of research. I wanted to know the true identity of this wizard you keep sending out into the different worlds of the spiral. I refused to believe you would send an actual, real child to face me." Her eyes went to the young wizard and she frowned at seeing how they were turned around.

"But, to my surprise, you did…" Morganthe frowned, a flash of disgust briefly flashing on her face. 

"You _really_ did." She whispered before shaking her head. Now wasn't the time to be utterly petty. Focus.

"Well, now? Here are the consequences of that." Morganthe pointed at the papers with her staff, head up high.

"So, I demand you unhand my child." The words seem to echo around the room as Gamma let out a hoot of utter shock.

"What?!" Gamma exclaimed as Ambrose froze. 

The young wizard's head snapped up and whipped around. Their eyes wide. Did they hear that right?! 

Ambrose took a step back, shielding the wizard from Morganthe's immediate line of sight as he shook his head.

"No. No Morganthe. They have family already, I believe." Ambrose said, frowning. Morganthe just smirked.

"Well Ambrose. You see, when you transported this child away from their world, (with no way of returning mind you) and left them with no parent or guardian around... they _are_ technically considered an orphan. Not to mention that all the dangerous situations you've exposed them to and, well, the list goes on." Morganthe explained, despite Ambrose's best attempts at not letting her see the wizard, they kept poking their head around.

They saw how they winched badly at her explanation. They… they weren't actually an orphan back in their world too, right? 

Ambrose was quiet, possibly thinking before he spoke again. "Morganthe, you shall not take them anywhere. I swear on this!" 

"And what will you do? Teleport away? That will only incriminate you more. Not to mention, you _did_ bring the wizard here entirely against their will and no knowledge of what lied ahead of them. So, you technically abducted them as well." Morganthe frowned. The door behind the wizard suddenly bursts open. They scrambled back as two Marleybone police officers suddenly came in.

"Merle Ambrose, you're under arrest for child endangerment and kidnapping!" The officers stated as they grabbed the arms of the Headmaster, cuffing him. The wizard stood there, trying to process everything as one of the officers led the headmaster away, the other walking up to Morganthe.

"The child is yours to take. We will need your testimony in court however to put the headmaster behind bars." The officer said.

"And I will gladly do so." Morganthe said. The officer nodded and moved over to Gamma as Morganthe closed the file and teleported it away to her desk back home. As the officer was explaining what was going to happen and everything to Gamma, Morganthe looked over at the wizard who looked lost and tired.

More tired than anything really.

"Wizard? Do you have anywhere to stay?" Morganthe asked as she walked over. The wizard nodded. They suddenly stuck out a hand, which Morganthe slowly took, not expecting that at all. 

And suddenly they teleported away. When Morganthe's eyes could focus again, she saw they were in some sort of apartment. It was small. A simple kitchenette to one side, a window seat to another and in a corner rested a simple bed that was unmade. 

There were mostly random things strewn about. Mostly books and blankets from many late nights of studying. 

"Oh. Uh…" Morganthe tried to figure out what she could even say. She didn't expect to suddenly be teleported into the home of her enemy, well, former enemy? She didn't know yet.

The only light around came from her staff as she walked over to the window seat, looking out the window to see how late it was. No one was outside or anything. Casting a glance around the dark streets, she recognized that it was Olde Town. 

"Wizard? Why did you bring me here?" Morganthe asked, genuinely curious. When she didn't get an answer, she looked behind her to see the young wizard laying on their bed, dead asleep. Their gear was tossed carelessly on the floor, one boot was in one place and one was in another. 

They only had on a simple cotton shirt and pants which she guessed were what she had on under all of that gear. Morganthe took another sweeping look around to see that the place was somewhat barren of furniture. No dining table or chairs, no fireplace which explained why it was cold in here.

She knew they were an ice wizard, maybe death as their secondary. An ice wizard shouldn't shiver while casting their own spells however…

Morganthe walked over to the young wizard. She knew they were young, but getting an actual close look at them made her see just how _real_ it was. How the mess of freckles across their nose, cheeks and neck looked ever so slightly starry from the constant astral magic they used. From how their messy, unkempt hair brushed against their cheeks and framed their closed eyes from view.

She placed her staff against the wall, carefully sitting beside the wizard and pulled the bed sheets up to their neck. She ran a hand through their hair. The wizard was powerful, they were brave and courageous. 

They shouldn't have to be facing dangers like this however. They shouldn't be out saving the spiral time and time again. They were too young. They were a child…

She stayed by the wizard's side until she finally stood up. She had to see how this place was.

Morganthe poked around a bit, (no she wasn't highly concerned with how this kid was living.) The kitchenette wasn't clean per say, but it could do with at least a wipe down to be in proper shape. Several pans and such were in the sink, not too much food in the pantries. No refrigerator either. 

The bathroom wasn't entirely clean either and was pretty small.

Morganthe hated how her mind kept switching between, "Hah! This is how they've been living!" And "oh my god, _this is how they've been living oh no no no-"_

Morganthe frowned at the state of all of this. 

Oh did she have some words to say tomorrow. Many, many words...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's court case time y'all.  
> I did my best oof. Idk how actual court cases go and such. I tried to do research, but let's just say I kept getting the bad stuff as examples oof. I hope you guys enjoy!

The following weeks were disastrous to say the least. News spread like Wyldfire around here, and how they were at the center of it all…

Well, they were the prime target of some of the not so friendly students. The wizard did their best to keep it from their teachers, (they didn't want to cause any other stress to them after they revived their court summons) and all. They of course had questions and the wizard answered as much as they could.

It was nerve wracking, waiting for the date to swing around. They visited Ambrose as much as possible and such. Due to the whole court thing and all, she was only allowed a short time frame to talk to him (only about 5 or so minutes. Yeesh…) each time. She was busy with actually sitting down and going to classes now instead of running around and saving this and that. 

Currently Gamma was doing an actually fairly good job as temporary stand-in as Headmaster. 

Everything else was more or less irrelevant as the wizard stood outside the courtroom, gaze flickering to Morganthe every so often as she talked to the lawyer she had hired. The wizard never thought they'd ever see the Shadow Queen herself dressed so… casually? Business like?

She had a typical business attire, except it was all black. Black shirt, heels, jacket, everything. Her hair was as it always was along with her usual makeup and such.

It was just very odd to see her like that.

An hour later, the bailiff ushered everyone inside.

"All rise for Judge Doolittle." The bailiff said. The people of the court stood up as the judge entered. They were a tall German Shepard marleybonian, older if the grey lines along his fur were any indication. They wore the typical white wig of every judge from the world, black outfit, and such.

"Everyone sit." He huffed as he sat up at his podium. He picked up a manila folder and carefully read it for a minute or so before putting it back down.

"So. We are here for the custody case of a… Clemin AstralRose?" He spoke.

"Clementine." A hoarse voice spoke up.

"Excuse me?" The judge gruffed.

"It's Clementine, your honor." The wizard said, frowning at their own voice. 

"Right... And there is also a case against Headmaster Ambrose of Ravenwood on countless, and, well, I do mean _countless_ charges of child endangerment and one of child abduction?" Doolittle looked up from the papers.

"Correct, your honor." Morganthe said. The judge nodded. He first asked for a testimony from Ambrose himself. He asked how his school was run, how Clementine was enrolled and such and Ambrose answered as truthfully as he could.

The school was completely free. No need to pay or anything. It was for anyone who wished to learn magic. It was run professionally and safely. Clementine had been summoned to the Spiral at the height of all the issues plaguing their universe. They were enrolled after they were given the choice and everything was history from there.

He made sure they were as safe as could be and all. Clementine was called to the witness stand to say a few words of their own, but they did their best to not say too much and be as truthful as possible. 

There was also the whole thing of who their guardian(s) even were. Clementine did their best to come up with a good, convincing lie as to why they weren't able to even come today. 

"A bad case of the flu." They said, "It may be a bit before they get better. My _parents_ do care for me and everything. And, they, love me and, stuff..." 

Lying about that was hard when they didn't even know what it felt like-

"If that's the case, then why do you want _sole_ custody of the child then?" The judge turned to Morganthe with a raised brow in question. 

Morganthe smiled and quickly began firing off at how neglectful Ambrose was, how he let the wizard run around with no one to watch them or anything at all. 

Well there went their lie. The wizard, a bit miffed at this, spoke up at how they didn't even need anyone to look after them. 

"I can take care of myself just fine." The wizard, or Clementine, said with a frown. They really didn't need anyone per say. They didn't save 5 worlds of the spiral for nothing, damn it all!

"Yes. That's true. They are 18 after all." Said one of the court people.

"...18? They told me they were 16?" Another asked in confusion.

"16?! No! They're 30!" Another shouted. Soon enough an argument was boiling up as people began firing left and right at the presumed age of Clementine.

_Oh._ Clementine watched everything unfold in quiet fear, shrinking further and further into her seat until only the top of her head could be seen. And she didn't miss the confused glances both Ambrose and Morganthe threw at her... _This is bad. So bad-_

"ORDER! ORDER!" The judge shouted as he banged his gavel down hard a few times before the room went silent. His gaze instantly went to Clementine who shrunken in their seat, hood of the winter coat they wore over their head in possible shame.

"Do you have an explanation for this?" The judge asked, eyes snapping to the young wizard in question who kept their gaze on their gloved hands.

"Young Wizard, please sit up." The Judge said and Clementine forced themself to sit up, still slouching and hood over their head.

"I-I, umm…." Clementine froze up, breath coming out in small clouds as if the room was freezing cold. A thing that always happened when they were nervous… being an ice wizard sucked in that regard, for them at least.

"L-look! I go to all sorts of different worlds daily!" Clementine began but cut themself off, feeling _everyone's_ eyes on them. They soon refused to say anything.

After a few more questions circulated, as to what Clementine's diet was, routine, etc to estate their wellbeing. However, Clementine refused to answer. She wanted out.

The judge soon issued a second hearing as this went for a long while.

Clementine just wanted it all to end already…

\----X----

"You'll need to be seen by a doctor. But I assure a young girl such as yourself and status will be healthy. I bet it'll be as goes, "She's perfectly healthy for her age."" The judge said over the phone. Or, landline. Getting used to Marleybonian technology was weird.

"They, sir." Clementine sighed.

"They? Who?" The judge asked. Before Clementine could speak again, she was interrupted. She sighed again. This had happened last time when she had tried to correct multiple people of what her preferred pronouns were. Some were kind about it, others were just simply ignorant. She didn't hold it against them.

However she couldn't stand this judge nor the others who blatantly ignored her words. 

She hated this.

\-------------

They were told they needed to see a doctor to determine their mental and physical well being to present the judge with any signs of physical or mental abuse and neglect. Begrudgingly they did. They hated doctors, most were too cold (pun not intended), and they just didn't trust them in general. The scars on their face were noted down, as well as the many others that littered their body, both from their former life on earth and from their countless too close calls in both duels and battles.

Not to mention the numerous bruises they revived after a few side quests that involved duels. Many of those did not end up going well.

They were asked about the one discolored eye they had, if they could see, etc. And they could see just fine, it became discolored after a minor death spell went wrong. They were _very_ lucky it only drained their eyes color and nothing else really. 

In the second hearing, the Ravenwood professors were brought in to give their own testimonies. They spoke highly of Clementine, how bright of a student they were. It all went on and on until a third hearing was ordered, turning the case into a very delicate and sensitive one. 

"And may I remind the court how if Ambrose hadn't even summoned Clementine here, then we all wouldn't be standing right here." A Begal lawyer, ironically having Law in his name, spoke.

"Objection!" Morganthe's lawyer, a Dachshund marleybonian, said. 

"Oh gods…" Clementine mumbled, hands on their face as they listened to the lawyer say how Clementine was brought here without _her_ consent or anything.

"THEY!" Clementine wanted to shout in annoyance, but shockingly it was Morganthe who hissed the word at them. 

This went on for a bit longer until Clementine was called up to speak. 

"Now, about the uproar from yesterday…" the judge began. 

Oh gods no no no no- 

"Do- do we have to talk about that?" Clementine asked nervously. 

"Yes. We all don't know your true age." Doolittle said. "It is crucial to this, and not to mention it caused quite the stir. We need to know before we move forward." 

_But you'll all hate me-_ Clementine thought as their gaze swept around the room. A few random citizens who they knew they helped in the past. Ambrose, Morganthe, the professors, were there too.

"Wizard? What is your age?" The judge asked, more serious and to the point this time. Oh no that tone _totally_ is helping, yeah-

"U-uh…" Clementine looked around one more time before their gaze locked onto their hands. 

"I'm… I'm umm…" They chewed at their bottom lip nervously, scared. They took a deep breath and closed their eyes.

"Ten." She spoke clearly.

And all hell broke loose…

A shocked yell, many gasped in shock, the professors included except Cyrus but he still looked surprised. Morganthe was _seething_ and had to be held back by her lawyer.

"YOU SENT A TEN YEAR OLD CHILD AGAINST ME?!" Morganthe yelled in anger.

"ORDER! ORDER! I DEMAND ORDER!" The sound of the gavel banging echoed out many times before the chaos finally quelled.

"Did you know how old this child is, despite all the dangers you sent them out to face?!" The judge asked, glare pointed at Ambrose, whose head was hanging low.

"I did." Ambrose said. 

Clementine's heart broke a bit at seeing Ambrose like this. The judge called for a 15 minute recess as he said he had heard enough.

"Fuck, fuck, duck,duck, fhck-" The jumble of words were hissed under quiet breath as Clementine paced back and forth, thinking of their options.

The ability to teleport away wasn't an option. The courthouse had magical barriers to prevent that sort of thing. Maybe when they left? Yeah.

Maybe they could find a nice little cottage, somewhere nice in Zafaria, Mooshu or something. Live and trade what they need. Live a peaceful life without any worry or stress. 

Yeah. That sounded nice. And they could defend themselves against threats too. 

15 minutes later exactly, they were all ushered back inside.

"And my final verdict in the case of sole custody of Clementine AstralRose goes to…"

Clementine grimaced. They knew where this was going. They just had to time what they had planned right.

"Morganthe! As for Ambrose, 50 years in jail with no hope for probation! I am sorry, but the amount of dangerous situations we know Clementine has been through is too much. Ravenwood will have to find a new and decent headmaster. I will _not_ budge on this!" Doolittle held his head up high, banging the gravel as Clementine swallowed thickly, just feeling the slightest bit warm.

In the hall, Clementine walked around, trying to sense where there was a spot they could get past the magical barriers. They could hear Ambrose being taken away, Morganthe thanking her lawyer, and other stuff. The crowd of people from the trial helped them with minimal detection. They hoped anyway. 

Sure, They were used to getting through them but that was usually with an object or something. 

This? This would rely purely on their own magic tearing it up.

Soon enough Clementine found a corner where the barriers felt weak enough. Shoving themself into it as much as possible, they reached for the old runed wand they had gotten when they were still an apprentice fledgling Ice wizard. Oh that felt _so_ long ago now... they only brought it In case they went through with their plan.

"Wizard?" Crap. That was Morganthe. Clementine looked to see Morganthe a bit away, maybe she was trying to walk over? Screw that. Seeing the frown of confusion on Morgathe's face made Clementine give a sheepish smile and a similar small wave. 

They heard her say something before with a chilly wind and a flutter of powdered snow and snowflakes, Clementine disappeared teleporting to who knows where.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will come out whenever my motivations wills me to start writing it oof.


End file.
